The Cistercian Order used the same floor plan for all its abbeys, which makes it possible to easily locate the different rooms and halls regardless of the building site.

The catastrophe led to a period of blooming, since Birger jarl and other mediaeval financiers rebuilt the abbey, this time more beautiful and imposing.

In the middle of the 17th century, Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie received the abbey as a gift from the Swedish queen Christina.

[3] De la Gardie restored the church and established a family mausoleum in it, while the remaining abbey buildings were left to decay.

The number of tourists visiting Varnhem has grown manyfold due to Jan Guillou's books about Arn.